On 27th April, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded former special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam as its Lok Sabha candidate from the Mumbai North Central seat. Nikam has several high-profile cases including the 1993 Bombay bombing, the Gulsham Kumar murder case, the Pramod Mahajan murder case, and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Congress has fielded Varsha Gaikwad from that seat. Notably, sitting MP Poonam Mahajan has been from the seat. As per reports, Mahajan was dropped based on the organisational feedback after several poll surveys yielding negative ratings for her.
Who is Ujjwal Nikam?
Ujjwal Nikam is a former special public prosecutor who contested several high-profile cases. He was born in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. Nikam started his career as a district prosecutor in Jalgain and slowly progressed to state and national trials.
Nikam has contested many cases on State’s behalf including the 1993 Bombay bombings, the Pramod Mahajan murder case, the Gulshan Kumar murder case, the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the 2013 Mumbai gang rape case, the 2016 Kopardi rape and Muder case and more.
Nikam became the reason behind the death penalty for Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist who was caught alive in the 26/11 Bombay terrorist attack. He was awarded Padma Shri by the government of India in 2016. Nikam has a 30-year-long career during which he secured 628 life imprisonment and 37 death penalties.
Nikam worked for over 14 years in the special court established under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act. In 2009, he was provided Z-plus security after he became prosecutor in 26/11 case.
PM Modi’s work inspired Ujjwal Nikam to join politics
In a statement to the media, Nikam said he decided to join politics after observing the nation’s transformation under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed a desire to contribute to the development of the nation. Speaking to India Today, he said, “I was far away from politics. But seeing how the nation has transformed since 2014, I started observing minutely the image India has built globally, and for this, PM Modi and the BJP are to be credited. Their dedication towards India and its people, I then felt that the time was right for me to do something more for the country.”
He Praised PM Modi on the steps taken against terrorism. He added, “I know that you can face a lot of false allegations in politics, but I assure you that if somebody points out my mistakes, I will try to fix them. I was born on Hanuman Jayanti, and I hope that by God’s grace, I won’t make any mistakes.”
After his nomination, he expressed a desire to learn from sitting MP Poonam Mahajan, whom he has replaced. He said, “I have known Poonamji as I represented the state during the trial of her father’s murder. I had seen how hard-working she was during the case. She has so much experience…I hope to get her assistance as I represent the constituency.”
Nikam once came under fire during the 26/11 trials as he reportedly “cooked up” the story that Kasab demanded Biryani in jail. Later, he told reporters that he made up the story to break the “emotional wave” that was being created in favour of the terrorist.
Lok Sabha Elections 2024
Polling for Mumbai North Central will take place on 20th May. In 2019 General Elections, BJP won 23 out of 25 contested seats while undivided Shiv Sena secured 18 oout of 23 seats. Results for Lok Sabha Elections 2024 will be announced on 4th June.